Between Scylla and Charybdis

Chapter 2. The chase

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Scylla never felt like the gods smiled down upon her before. Not until today at least. But it looked like her luck was turning.

How he'd managed it, she had no clue. Nobody had ever found any of her many hiding spots, not the guard, not her mother. Not in her twenty years of life. If she willed it, she was invisible to the rest of the world. It was the only solace as the child everyone looked to as being the future of the pod.

This male though, whoever he was, somehow managed to track her into one of her smaller, best hidden dens. At first she'd felt nothing but annoyance at the intruder, like he'd somehow bested her by finding her hiding spot. Like he was peacocking before the trial had even begun.

Look how worthy I am? I managed to track you when nobody else could. That sort of nonsense. Surely that sort of thing would earn him brown-nose points with mother.

But then...

'What's your name, Darling?'

Scylla did a double take. Looking the male up and down. Didn't he know her name? Surely this was a joke? This was just him being polite, right? Then again, this one acted with none of the nervousness, anxiety or downright fear that most males usually adopted in her presence.

'Darling? Confident aren't we? I take it you're not here for the soon-to-be Matron then?' Scylla turned her voice to silk as she feigned ignorance. Surely this would rattle him to the bone? The male threw her a sideways smile.

'Hmm, I had every intention of going after the Matron welp, but I highly doubt she'd ever be as lovely as you.'

Scylla fought back a cackle. Oh dear. It seemed this one was an idiot. She let out a short chirr, pretending to be amused by his non-existent wit.

'Such flattery..., save some for the trials, stranger.' Just how easily could this guy be manipulated? Time to find out.

Scylla lowered her head so the male could look down at her backside. A submissive gesture that showed off the intricate patterns adorning her spine and dorsal fins. A blatant flirtatious move on her part. You're right, I am beautiful, you don't even know the half of it. One flutter of her eyelashes and she struck her mark.

'So you will take part in the ritual then?' he mumbled, now with a subtle strain in his voice. That's more like it, outsider. Tremble for me.

The male followed her every move as if captivated. This idiot would fit right into her plan. As she swam past him, Scylla trailed her eyes along the edges of his frame, taking note of the nicely contoured muscles in his chest and arms. The way his black markings framed his collarbones up to his jaw, striping down his spinal chord and curling onto his tail reminded Scylla of a very rare type of dolphin. His appearance was... unusual to say the least. Not the type she'd normally go for. Scylla was used to catching the attention of her mothers warriors, and a warrior, she was certain, this male was not. Still, his exotic appearance was enough to make feigning interest in the male easy.

'That is non-negotiable I am afraid. It appears quite a few Merfolk will be disappointed if I don't.' Particularly my mother.

Her gaze locked on the wall facing her and before the male could respond, Scylla shot forward towards a well hidden opening between two rocks. She could hear the male gasp behind her, but kept on going, piercing through the adjacent tunnel with ease. The male let out a growl as he started his pursuit, struggling to wurm his wider frame through the opening in the rocks. At least he was following, albeit slowly. Scylla took one turn after another with a clear goal in mind. She knew these tunnels like she did her own scales, just a little bit further.